City Hall has told the United Thai Nation Party (UTN) to stop projecting a laser election campaign display on the giant pillar supporting Rama 8 Bridge, after being asked by Election Commission to investigate it, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Tuesday.
Mr Chadchart said Tipanan Sirichana, a party-list candidate of the UTN, sent a letter to the city clerk on May 7 seeking permission to campaign for votes in the Rama 8 Park area from May 8-12. A document attached to the letter gave details of a laser lighting display on a pillar of Rama 8 Bridge.
He admitted the city made a mistake in not examining the details in the attached document and allowing the laser display to go ahead.
In fact, the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) does not allow buildings or structures in its jurisdiction to be used for political campaigning, and that included the laser light display on Rama 8 Bridge, Mr Chadchart said.
Mr Chadchart said when the BMA received a letter from Election Commission (EC) chairman Itthiporn Boonprakong asking it to investigate, it immediately sent a letter to the UTN instructing it to stop the laser display on the bridge.
He said the BMA would also send a letter to the EC clarifying the matter.
Whether the use of lasers to campaign for votes on the bridge was in breach of the election law was a matter for the EC to decide, Mr Chadchart said.
Rama 8 Bridge is a cable-stayed structure across the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok’s Bang Phlat district, built to alleviate traffic congestion on nearby Phra Pinklao Bridge.